John King (police officer)

John King
John King
Born	5 February 1830; Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia
Burial place	Dunmunkle Cemetery, Minyip
Known for	Pulling down the Eureka Flag

John King (1830-1881) was a Police Constable at the

Eureka Stockade rebellion, one of Australia's few armed uprisings and often characterised controversially as the "birth of democracy" in Australia

.

Born in the parish of Tumurah, County Down, Ireland, son of James King, farmer, and Jane (nee McAllister), he attempted to join the British Army several times, but was rejected on account of his age. Finally on 24 November 1846, aged sixteen, he managed to enlist at Lisburn – partly by raising his age to eighteen. He served as a Private in the 61st Regiment (The South Gloucestershire Regiment) for six years and 306 days – being with the Army of Punjab [sic] in India in 1848-49, being present during the ‘Passage of Cinaub’, and at the battles of Sadsolopoor, Chillianwalla and Goojerat. On 1 March 1853 he paid £18 to gain his discharge from the army and came to Australia. After trying his hand at mining, on 25 March 1854 he joined the police. His record sheet describes him as being ‘age 25, height 5 feet six and a half inches, eyes grey, hair brown; complexion light’.

After the storming of the

Lake Bolac; and William Robert, born in 1878, in Minyip

.

The family moved to

Wimmera, he took up land called “Kingsley” at Nullan, near Minyip. There they lived in their old house form Lake Bolac which had been transported by bullock wagon – it was destroyed in a fire in 1951. John King was a member of the Minyip Shire Council and twice President of the shire. He died on 23 October 1881 at Warrnambool, and was buried in the Dunmunkle Cemetery at Minyip

. Isabella died in 1900 at Minyip.

In 1895 King’s Family presented the

Eureka Centre

.

References

Corfield, J.,Wickham, D., & Gervasoni, C. The Eureka Encyclopaedia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.